Washington, January 23
US President Barack Obama today said Afghanistan and Pakistan are the central front in the America's war against terrorism and the deteriorating situation in the region poses grave threat to the global security.

"This is the central front in our enduring struggle against terrorism and extremism," Obama said reiterating that the Afghan-Pak problem can't be resolved in isolation.

There has to be regional approach to it, he argued.

Addressing the officials of the State Department after Richard Holbrooke was appointed Special US Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Obama said, “There, as in the Middle East, we must understand that we cannot deal with our problems in isolation.”

Obama said his administration is committed to refocusing attention and resources on Afghanistan and Pakistan and spending those resources wisely. "That's why we are pursuing a careful review of our policy," he said.

Terming it as an international challenge of the "highest order", he said, "There is no answer in Afghanistan that does not confront the Al-Qaida and Taliban bases along the border, and there will be no lasting peace unless we expand spheres of opportunity for the people of Afghanistan and Pakistan."

However, Obama said the situation can't be resolved so quickly in the region.

"The American people and the international community must understand that the situation is perilous and progress will take time. Violence is up dramatically in Afghanistan. A deadly insurgency has taken deep roots. The opium trade is far and away the largest in the world," he observed.

Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has spoken to President Asif Ali Zardari to share with him the vision of President Barack Obama's administration and its policies towards the region and Pakistan.

During a brief telephone conversation with Zardari yesterday night, Clinton discussed the situation in the region and Pakistan-US relations.

Both agreed that the ties between the two countries, which have continued to expand in all facets over the years, would be further strengthened by the new democratic government in Pakistan and the US, state-run APP news agency reported.

Zardari congratulated Clinton on assuming the post. He also welcomed Obama's desire to seek “a new way forward” with the Muslim world.

This new path, based on mutual respect and interest, was inspiring, he added.

US President Obama's special envoy on Pakistan and Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke said the planners of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States are hiding in Pakistan.

Holbrooke, a former ambassador to the United Nations, best known as the architect of the Dayton Accords of 1995 that ended the Bosnian conflict, said, "Nobody can say the war in Afghanistan has gone well... And across the border, lurks a greater enemy still: the people who committed the atrocities of September 11th, 2001."

US intelligence officials think Al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden is hiding somewhere in the Afghan-Pakistan border region. Holbrooke acknowledged his task to be a "very difficult assignment". Holbrooke suggested that if US resources are "mobilised and coordinated and pulled together, we can quadruple, multiply by tenfold the effectiveness of our efforts there." He described the situation in Pakistan as "infinitely complex", and said he didn't think he would "advance our goals if I tried to discuss it today". "I wish to get out to the region and report back to the Secretary, the Vice President, and the President," he said.

Mindful of Pakistan's irritation at the Obama administration's expectations of Islamabad, Holbrooke said, "In putting Afghanistan and Pakistan together under one envoy, we should underscore that we fully respect the fact that Pakistan has its own history, its own traditions, and it is far more than the turbulent, dangerous tribal areas on its western border. And we will respect that as we seek to follow suggestions" made by Obama, Vice President Joseph R Biden Jr and secretary of state Hillary Rodham Clinton. Obama also appointed former Senator George Mitchell as his special envoy to the Middle East.

Islamabad, January 23
A primary school teacher who once fought as a mujahideen against the Soviet occupation forces in Afghanistan, Amjad Islam, has been gunned down by the Taliban in Pakistan's troubled Swat valley for not hiking up his 'salwar' or trousers above his ankles.

Though the Pakistani Taliban has not issued any edict for the salwar to be worn in this manner, there have been reports of the militants threatening men for not hiking up their trousers.

The militants say hiking up the trousers is essential for offering prayers. The militants, after gunning down Islam, went to his house and gunned down his father, Ghani Akbar, a lawyer by profession.

Islam's body was later hung by the militants from a pole in the College Square in Matta town and local residents were warned not to touch it till Friday morning.

The body was taken down and moved to Islam's house after a local jirga intervened.

Local residents said the militants had asked Islam to hitch his salwar above his ankles yesterday morning. The teacher told them he was a former mujahideen and knew everything about Islam. He also said nobody could be forced to pull up his salwar above the ankles, The News daily reported.

Islam said he had also seen the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, which had not forced men to wear their salwar in this manner. His arguments angered the militants and led to a scuffle.

The teacher, who had a pistol, fired at the militants and killed a Taliban fighter and wounded two more.

He then tried to flee but the militants shot and stabbed him, killing him instantly. — PTI 

London, January 23
The search for a 15-year-old Indian schoolboy, who went missing earlier this month in Britain's Reading Town, has been stepped up by the police.

The search has been termed as the largest ever operation in the city. Jonathan Marques from Goa, who disappeared on January 6 on his way to his Blessed Hugh Faringdon School in the town, moved to UK three years ago with his parents and was reportedly keen to return to India.

The local police have alerted police forces across Britain and coordinating search operations. Amidst a public campaign and prayers by the Goan community in London, Reading and elsewhere for his safety, police officers are 'pulling out all stops' to find Marques. — PTI

Colombo, January 23
A Sri Lankan editor was stabbed in the face and beaten by a gang of assailants on motorcycles today. This is the third assault on a journalist in the country this month.

Upali Thennakoon, editor of the Sinhalese language weekly newspaper Rivira, said his wife saved him from death by wrapping her arms around him until the attackers fled. She also got injured in the incident.

The attack was similar to the killing of Sunday Leader editor Lasantha Wickramatunga two weeks ago. Wickramatunga was also intercepted on his way to work by some men on motorcycles.

His murder came days after some gunmen destroyed the main studio of MBC, Sri Lanka’s private broadcaster. The two assaults drew international condemnation and calls for the government to protect journalists and prosecute their attackers. — Agencies

Immediately after the Maoist-led coalition imposed ban to screen the newly released Bollywood movie “Chandni Chowk to China” throughout the country, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Nepal has sent a letter to the Indian government asking the latter not to screen the movie without deleting the controversial portion about Lord Buddha in it.

Speaking at a meeting of Foreign Relations and Human Rights Committee at the Legislature-Parliament on Friday, Minister for Foreign Affairs Upendra Yadav said his ministry had already written a letter to the Indian government in this regard.

The Cabinet meeting on Thursday had banned the screening of the movie across the country and decided to take diplomatic initiative and request India and other countries not to screen the movie without deleting the controversial portion.

Meanwhile, Ramesh Sippy has apologised for the misunderstanding. According to a statement received from the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu, Sippy on behalf of the producers and the entire unit of the movie said that the people of India and Nepal enjoy strong links going back across millennia, reflecting shared cultural traditions, which we strongly believe in. “Therefore, we regret if sentiments of the people of Nepal have been hurt because of any references in the film “Chandni Chowk to China,” which is purely inadvertent and unintentional.”